<p>Advocates of traditional software engineering and proponents of agile development appear no closer to a consensus now than they were 30 years ago, when their debate began. Yet howsoftware is made is often a central concernin technical circles and in generalsocial debates on privacy, trade, patents,and so on.Building a bridge between the specifictechnical issues and the broader socialconcerns can thus help achieve a clearerunderstanding of software, makingexplicit its unique structures and impor-tantrole in society.</p>